The location of my project will be scattered around the Kent area. Some of the more younger and homely photos will be taken at both my home and my sisters apartment. These photos will be taken in several rooms which relate to the images idea from the living room to the bedrooms. Some of the other places that photos will be taken will be around the local towns of Herne Bay, Canterbury and Whitstable. These locations will be scattered all over the place and it will depend what scenery works the best in the moment. Some of the examples of the photos I will be taking there will be parks, beaches, shops and public attractions such as cinemas and fun fairs. One other location I will be going to is a woodland/forest area in Maidstone to obtain the planned images of an abandoned forest area where teens can hang out and play. I will be getting to most of these locations via driving with my car.

Risk Assessment:

Possible Camera Damages – The camera could get damaged during some of the photos or be damaged before hand due to mishandling and possible collisions with other people and the environment. A way to avoid this is to check the equipment every time before taking the photo and making sure it is safe to take the photo before hand to put yourself and your equipment in a zero risk surrounding.

Possibly Tripping Hazards – Due to moving around a lot, going into different terrains and surroundings, there could be possible hazards that can be encountered that can cause tripping or some sort of harm. A way to avoid this is by moving at a slow pace and being careful about your surroundings. Making sure that the ground you walk on is safe and focus on not tripping over anything that can possibly cause harm.

Possible Hazards to Children involved in the project – A hazard that can occur due to having a small child be involved from tripping over to possible choking hazards. To avoid this, it is important to keep a watchful eye over the infant and make sure they do not leave your side as well as keeping them away from any possible hazards.

Treatment:

The main question I will be asking is “What do we see through life.” The reason I am asking this question is because I wanted to ask a question that not only made people think, but also make people think back to certain points in their life and bring out some emotion whether sad or happy. I will be doing this my producing a scrapbook style memory journal which will have a little bit of text either side of the photos, which will be taken by me, which will help tell a story.

Within this project, it will be from the individuals point of view, however it will include some other people within the production. My nephew will be assisting me through the early stages of my project from his point of view. I will also have a couple of others within my class and family to assist in the photos by being in them, such as Jamie in the class photos or my sister in the younger stages / baby photos acting as the mother.

I will be taking the photos on my own personal camera which is a Canon 700d. They will all be taken in the same format so none of the photos look like they have been taken in a different style however, different techniques and skills will be used to make them look slightly different. I will be using Adobe InDesign to format and put together my book and edit any photos or text within that program.

]]>https://andrewforemanmediaproduction.wordpress.com/2017/06/21/pre-production-planning/feed/0ajforemanFMP Evaluationhttps://andrewforemanmediaproduction.wordpress.com/2017/06/19/fmp-evaluation-2/
https://andrewforemanmediaproduction.wordpress.com/2017/06/19/fmp-evaluation-2/#respondMon, 19 Jun 2017 13:39:33 +0000http://andrewforemanmediaproduction.wordpress.com/?p=1726My project was to create a memory scrapbook using photographs from an individuals point of view, with his eyes being the camera, documenting the moments throughout his life from birth to the point of independence. It was planned to be an online scrapbook/memory journal, reminiscing on those moments as if the individual was reliving those moments as well as some insight to how those moments made that individual feel and what it meant to him.

Some of the strengths of this project was that it allowed me to get some unique photos as well as try out some new angles and styles that would usually be frowned upon in a usual photograph aspect. But due to this project’s gimmick is that the individuals eyes was the camera, it allowed for some flexibility and rule breaking when it comes to photography. Another strength was that the images really told a story better than if the project was just words. You can almost envision yourself seeing the things this individual is seeing or having yourself reflect on similar memories that you may of experienced yourself which was the goal for this project. Other strengths include being able to travel to take unique photographs so most of the images are taken in different locations or environments, plus this project allowed me to be creative not only in the photo taking aspect, but to also show my creative side in telling a fictional story. The individual I created in the project has some memories that I took from myself and other people who answered my survey during pre-production, which created a big memory bank of different peoples experiences throughout life.

Some weaknesses of the project first of all was the time management. It took a lot of time to plan then obtain the photographs. The planning alone took over a week longer than expected due to the amount of research that went into it, as well as the style I wanted to take the photos to show my own style. When it came to take the photos, that also took a lot of time due to travelling, needing certain props or other individuals acting (such as the relationship and detention photos) and weather conditions. However, even though it took longer than expected to complete all this, it was still all completed within the time limit and handed in before the deadline. One other weakness this project seemed to have was the design of the online book. I was originally meant to design each page of this book on Adobe InDesign, which would have taken a lot of time, however during some research of the book styles, I stumbled across a website program which allowed for an easier and more comfortable way to design it called “Cliptomize.” This helped me out greatly as my time management improved and allowed me to design the project the way I envisioned it.

When it came to taking the photos, I tried different styles and techniques to try and make it believable that an individual of a certain age would be living that moment. This would go from lower angles for the younger ages due to the individual being small or the eyes being more focused on closer objects at a younger age due to the eyes not being fully developed/growing. I also experimented with different surroundings and settings. I planned a lot of images that could be taken in multiple places, so I tried to show something different on each page so they didn’t clash with previous or future images in the book. Overall it worked very well and there is a constant change of scenery and style on each page so you don’t see the same thing twice.

During the development stage of this project, it really started to take shape once the story board was completed. I deliberately made the story board have lots of options to pick from so I had a selection of images to use when taking the photos myself which allowed for more flexibility and creativity over the design of the project. An example of this was I was planning for this individual to get into a relationship at age 16 which I went along with, but also to break up from that relationship at age 18 through an image that would of been a break up via text message. Even though I took this photo, I never incorporated it into the project as I wanted to have the main focus on the moving to university part, which was the “ending” of the book image wise. I also planned on that being the last thing you would see before it being finished, however once I did this, it felt like it was a bit blunt and sudden and unsatisfying. I decided to add a final page to keep the book open in almost a cliffhanger sort of way which I think looks and feels a lot better of an ending.

In my proposal, I stated I wanted to create a memory scrapbook that would be a timeline throughout life from birth to the age where the individual can “leave the nest” and leave to start his new journey of an independent person. I believe I set out and completed what I proposed, however I will admit I didn’t plan it to be totally like the final project. When I added the images to the start of the book, it felt like it needed more body than I originally planned, so I added a bit of text next to the photos to give them more of a body. This lead onto each page having a story behind each memory, causing the originally image only scrapbook to become more of a diary or journal which I am honestly a lot happier with. I believe that if I stuck to my original plan of just having images, it would not be as clear or good as it is now with the stories. It also helped to show more of my creativity when it comes to storytelling instead of just photography. The feedback I heard from peers and tutors was pretty much all positive. My tutor stated how much she was enjoying the whole project idea and loved the unique images while my peers also stated how they liked the design of the whole project. Something I did also realise when I was having people look and read my project was how many smiles or reactions it got from thus person which was the goal I was aiming for from the start. To have people react, remember and reflect on similar memories they may of had in the past, whether happy or sad. The one thing I would like to improve on in the future is time management. I underestimated the amount of planning and research that would go into this project. I never thought it would be simple, however I also didn’t think it would be as time consuming as it was. One other thing I would improve on in the future is the size of the images. Due to the program I was using and adding the dialog onto each page, the images are set out a bit smaller than I originally planned, so next time I would like to try and make the images bigger to show off more of my skills in the photographs.

If I was to carry on this project, I would continue the timeline a lot further, maybe even to the point of starting from birth to the point of death. An idea I had about that was for the final image to be the individual at an older age looking upon his grandchild’s newborn, then the newborn’s point of view looking at the individual we have been following all this time, to show the story continues, however through someone else’s eyes.

I believe that my final major project has completed all the tasks it set out to do. Not only did it achieve the goal I wanted it too, to make people feel something when reading it, but also for it to be appropriate and open to every demographic audience. There is nothing in it that is not appropriate for a certain age, race, religion or gender which makes it acceptable and readable for any person. As stated before, I believe that the vast targeted audience would enjoy my project due to the point it can be reflected upon with any person. There is at least one memory in this book that someone reading can reflect upon and bring back some memories.

During the project, I learnt how important time management can be. If it wasn’t for that program I found when researching scrapbook designs I would have been too close for comfort when it comes to the deadline. I also know the importance of contingency plans to assist for better time management. I think it is better to use your plan B instead of focusing on your plan A that could cause more problems then solutions. I do believe though that throughout this project I have gained some new skills and understandings when it comes to photography. I really enjoyed being able to have the freedom to try out new techniques and see if certain things work or not. I also think I expanded on my creativity when it comes to storytelling. The most important thing to me though at the end of this project and looking back is how proud of it I am. I accomplished my goal of not only telling a good story and importing photography into my project, but also to be able to connect with reads and bring out emotion from them which is a tricky thing to do.

]]>https://andrewforemanmediaproduction.wordpress.com/2017/05/11/story-board-fmp/feed/0ajforemanStoryBoardStoryBoard 2Portfolio – Introductionhttps://andrewforemanmediaproduction.wordpress.com/2017/05/04/portfolio-introduction/
https://andrewforemanmediaproduction.wordpress.com/2017/05/04/portfolio-introduction/#respondThu, 04 May 2017 20:46:57 +0000http://andrewforemanmediaproduction.wordpress.com/?p=1650This is my final major projects (FMP) portfolio for the course of Media Production, Television, Print and Radio level 3, Year 2. What my project is about is asking the question, “What do we see through life?” By this I mean what do we see throughout life and forget because we cant capture that moment and keep it forever, unlike a photograph.

The first part of this portfolio will help you understand the person behind this project, myself, and will tell what my experiences are within this course as well as what lead me to do this for my project. After all of this, this part of the portfolio will finish with my research plan.

The Project:

What makes me do the project is the motivation to make people feel a certain way. When I look through photographs of the past, they make me feel all kinds of emotions from happiness to sadness. I believe this is a powerful thing we can experience and should experience it more often. Some of the best feelings you can have is remembering something you totally forgotten, and I want to recapture that in the style of a scrapbook. When planning this project, I wanted it to feel as real and special as I could. I could easily make this person I am creating have the perfect life with no tragedies or sad moments, however I don’t want to do that. I want to make this person feel as alive as we are. This is why I plan on making my research count and getting personal with others. I plan on finding out some memories, some happy and some sad, from other people that are comfortable to share some of their fondest memories and recreate them through this persons eyes.

Another personal experience that influenced my choice for this project is the fact I love photography. I believe it is a powerful tool that can capture moments and freeze time. Nothing else can really do that the way a simple photograph can and I do believe that our eyes can be just as powerful. One of the things that I remember leading me into this frame of mind was a simple advert for our eyes and how we should look after them. It had a man just walking through a room, and every time he blinked, a Polaroid photo fell to the floor, as if he captured it with a camera, sending the message that our eyes are cameras and we should protect them. Seeing those pictures fall to the floor was an inspiring message that I still remember to this day. Another thing that is somewhat linked to this is recently when watching camera reviews on YouTube when wanting to purchase my own camera, I stumbled across something. It was a Canon advert about how there are over 7 billion people on Earth and we all see the world differently. During the advert it focuses on what different eyes can see and what you experience which was another inspirational and artist motivator for me.

Another advert that I saw on television and online which has inspired me is an advert from the “Save the Children” where it follows a single child’s life within a year starting from her birthday and the events that occur. It cleverly done by firstly making it look all normal, happy and peaceful then throughout the video it slowly drops hints that the world this person lives in is going horribly wrong until it goes into an all out disaster. It shows the child loose her home, loved ones, health decline and in constant danger, only for her to end up somewhat alone at the end exactly one year onward on her birthday showing the after effects of what she has experienced.

“Most Shocking Second A Day Video”. YouTube. N.p., 2017. Web. 11 May 2017.

The goal for me with this project is to possibly help people remember things they may have forgotten while growing up. Time passes fast and we cant remember or capture every moment that was special to us or someone else, while with something like this, we can relate, remember and relive the moments that we saw throughout life. The perfect thing about this project, it is for any given target audience, any gender, race, sexual preference and religion. The one audience member it should target more are the ones who have grown up past the early stages of adulthood, however it can be looked at from any age group too as we never stop capturing moments or forgetting those special moments that we should keep safe.

Who am I?

I am an individual who thrives on being creative and expressing himself. I am not a fan of sitting around doing nothing or doing something that involves sitting around for hours on end typing away on a computer. Doing as such leads me to get frustrated and would much rather be going out and being creative and practical which is something I have been since I remember. Through this I learnt various skills and gain some experiences throughout life from working in the real world to discovering what I want to do in life for a career, as well as understand myself some more such as what are my likes and dislikes. Since this, I have gained a strong passion for the environment and how I love its natural beauty which I wish to preserve and protect. With this passion, I finally after years of questioning myself understood what I wanted to do with my life, and that is see the world, explore and capture as a landscape photographer which I am continuing to pursue. I also have a strong connection with the animal kingdom and their well being; so much so that I took a course at college for a year to study more about animal care.

I believe that I am a kind, caring individual that is respectful of everyone’s opinions and beliefs. Someone who makes others feel better about themselves rather than worse off. I do have a few phobias from spiders/bugs, which is ironic due to my love for the animal kingdom, but my main phobia is Thanatophobia, which is the phobia of death. This phobia terrifies me on a common basis, however it also motivates me to make the most of life as it is a one time thing so I do believe you should have fun, don’t let there be any chains holding you back (within reason!) and enjoy life to the fullest. This phobia of mine is another reason why I want to travel, to see as much as I can and create even more memories, friendships and explore this large world.

What did I learn on my course?

I went into this two year course having very little knowledge of anything media related. I didn’t really know how to record videos, take decent photographs, conduct radio interviews or write creative journalistic pieces. However, now I am approaching my final month of this course I can say that I am comfortable with pretty much all of these mediums. Over the past two years, I have completed many tasks and projects towards the final grades of this course. One of my personal favourites was a group project that we recently completed. It was a one minute video of any genre we liked but it couldn’t contain any dialog. As a group of three, we planned out a romance video called Platform 2. We all took different roles; I took the role of acting in the video as well as making my own edited version of it. It went so well that it was a runner up in a county competition at the creative design fest 2017. https://www.creativedesignfest.co.uk/

What is my project about?

This project is going to be an online scrapbook of memories captured by the individuals eyes as if they were cameras. To capture the special moments from the moments of birth till the moments of independence, for this project, that will be the age of adulthood and this individual going off to university. It will follow the same person from start to finish and I am aiming for this to be as realistic as possible. From the innocent, cant do no wrong infants to the troublesome teenage years. It will be a journey and adventure filled with ups and downs so other people that are reading can relate and connect to it from their own personal experiences and background.

My role in this project is to be the designer, photographer and producer.

Why is my project important?

I feel like my project is important because it connects with the reader on a emotional level. Whether that is on a positive or negative note, it is still something that is powerful enough to make someone laugh, smile, cry or hurt. It is also something I am passionate about. I love photography and how it can freeze time which is the perfect message I am trying to send across, to be able to freeze time, freeze those moments and cherish them forever. I am also using this project as an opportunity to try out and test some new camera techniques to get different styles of photographs and see what works and what doesn’t work, which I shall evaluate during my post production.

My Research Plan.

Section 1, Interest/Topic/Theme:

I looked into a couple of photographers that have done similar projects in the past. Where they focus on the style of “point of view” photography such as Timur Zhansultanov who had an article written about him and his work. There are also a couple of books that my tutor recommended such as “The Fundamentals of Photography” by Tim Daly which shows different styles and techniques of photography. Finally, I shall look into books and magazines about what children especially do in their daily lives as they grow up in forms of learning and entertainment. (95 words)

Section 2, Why is it important? – Importance:

I want there to be emotion involved in my project, from both the creators point of view to the readers whether it is happiness or sadness. I want to show the ability to capture the moments in life and use them to reflect on our own past and remember the things we have forgotten through this fictional life I will create. I want to also show off the skills I have learnt throughout the course and try out some new things within this project that I hope will add to the project in a whole. (95 words)

Section 3, My research questions:

1/ What is the first thing you remember seeing?

2/ What is your earliest memory?

3/ What memory comes to mind when you think of your childhood?

4/ What memory comes to mind when you think of your teen-hood?

5/ Is there a memory which comes to mind that makes you feel happy?

6/ Is there a memory which comes to mind that makes you feel unhappy?

7/ Are there any mental images from any years of your life that stick out?

These will be sent out to people via an online survey for maximum and clear results. (98 words)

Section 4, Research Design:

The subjects i’m going to research are scrapbook designs to get an idea of how I want my online scrapbook to be laid out. I will be conducting a online survey asking the questions above to get as many memories and results as possible, and finally I will be looking into from various sources on what individuals, especially children growing up, do in their daily lives which I can input into this project. As this project goes along, I will gain more research with the more I try out and experiment with, as well as look into something deeper to get a better result for an image. (107 words)

This week, I plan on starting, completing and handing in my FMP proposal. I also plan on completing any work that is left over from the previous unit and having a one to one tutorial with my tutor. I would also need to complete the weekly planning/evaluation booklet with this weeks entry. The resources I will need to complete these given takes will be to have access to a computer to write and publish my proposal and access to my past saved work to edit or complete from the past unit.

Week 2: 03/05/17

This week, I plan on starting and completing my storyboard for my FMP. I also hope to complete all of the pre-production work for the FMP such as the paperwork in the portfolio and the rest of unit 13/14. I would also need to complete the weekly planning/evaluation booklet with this weeks entry. The resources I will need to complete these given takes is firstly, have access to editing software such as Photoshop in order to make my storyboard, which will be displayed as a part of my project to show the journey I went through. As the storyboard will have online images, I will also need access to a Word document to create a neat bibliography. Secondly, I will need further access to a computer to complete the online portfolio work that has been set for us. If possible, I would also like to do some further primary research into some ideas that I can use for my storyboard.

Week 3: 10/05/17

This week, I plan on completing my storyboard fully and have it printed out to have on display at a later date, as well as complete the bibliography as I go alone. I would also like to have all the work that I completed for the online portfolio checked and discussed with my tutor so I can finalise and send it off. I would also need to complete the weekly planning/evaluation booklet with this weeks entry. The resources that I will require to complete these given tasks would be access to the previous work on Word, Photoshop and WordPress.

Week 4: 17/05/17

This week, I would like to finalise all previous work so it is sent off and I can move forward. I would like to start my practical work with taking the photographs that I have planned on my storyboard. As this is a rather large task, I would need a fair bit of time this week to complete it as well as travel around to take all the photographs that I need. I would also need to complete the weekly planning/evaluation booklet with this weeks entry. The resources that I will need to complete these is my camera and its equipment to take the images. I will also be using my car for easy access to the areas around Kent that I need to get to in order to obtain the photographs I require and planned.

Week 5: 24/05/17 *Progression Week*

This week, I would like to complete all the task of capturing all the images I need for my project and begin editing them into an online scrapbook. I would also need to complete the weekly planning/evaluation booklet with this weeks entry. The resources that I will need in order to complete these given tasks would be to have access to my camera and it’s equipment to finish taking the photos. Next, I would need access to the editing software I require in order to make this online scrapbook such as Photoshop and Flipbook.

Week 6: 31/05/17

This week, I would like to complete the editing of my project as well as finalise it and get some opinions/feedback on the project. Once this is completed, I would like to finish my projects post projection by evaluating it as well as the whole experience leading up to it. I would also need to complete the weekly planning/evaluation booklet with this weeks entry. The resources I will need in order to complete these given tasks would be to first have access to the stored photographs and saved editing software and files. I would also need access to WordPress in order to evaluate my project.

Week 7: 7/06/17

This week, I would like to be completed with the whole project; edited, finalised and evaluated. I would also like to make sure my weekly booklet that I have been filling in throughout this project is completed and handed in. Finally, I would like all the work that was previously set in past units to be checked and confirmed to be completed. The resources I will need in order to complete these given tasks would be access to my work from editing software to saved files as well as WordPress. I would also need access to my booklet in order to check it and complete it by hand.

]]>https://andrewforemanmediaproduction.wordpress.com/2017/05/04/project-action-plan-and-timetable/feed/0ajforemanFMP Proposalhttps://andrewforemanmediaproduction.wordpress.com/2017/04/27/fmp-proposal/
https://andrewforemanmediaproduction.wordpress.com/2017/04/27/fmp-proposal/#respondThu, 27 Apr 2017 11:12:51 +0000http://andrewforemanmediaproduction.wordpress.com/?p=1560Section 1, Rationale: My FMP is a photography online scrapbook that is also a timeline that captures the images that our eyes capture as we grow up. The scale of the timeline for this project is from the point of bird to the point of independence. I wanted to do a FMP that would relate and get me prepared for the course I applied for at university. I also wanted to display the skills that I developed with things such as Photoshop while studying at college. A concern is that it will be a lot of photos being taken that need planning however it should remain manageable with proper storyboarding.

The overall objective about my project is to help people relate to what they have seen and missed throughout life. We see a lot of stuff and forget about it. I want to capture the memories that we capture with our eyes and mind and make a book of it all through the stages of life.

Section 2, Project Concept: The medium of this project is photography in an online flipbook scrapbook design layout. The aim of it is to show what the eyes see throughout life when growing up from a new born to the stage of being independent. We see a lot of things in life and many things that we forget; especially in the early years of our lives which is special for other people. So I thought it would be a good project to relive those memories and sights, and capture them for a scrapbook of memories. Memories are a key part of anyone’s mind whether happy or sad. I could make this a scrapbook of a perfect life with only happiness, however I tend to make this as real as possible with both ups and downs from start to finish.

I will be researching into other people’s unique memories and incorporating them into the scrapbook to make the journey through life feel as real as possible and that anyone who reads it can relate too of any age, gender or religion.

I will be taking up the role of the photographer using my cannon 700d camera to get decent quality images and as it is my camera, take them the way I want too.

Section 3, Evaluation: My planning for this project seems to be pretty solid. I have a couple of contingency plans if any possible issues may arise as well as a good way to plan out all my photography. I have left myself plenty of time to also not rush this project and get the best possible result. I will also be keeping a weekly progress tracker which will be hand written in a booklet. At the end of the project I will evaluate the project and talk about the good and bad points as well as how effective I thought it was.

My FMP is a online photography story book throughout someones live via their eyes. It will start from their birth, first sights, to the point where they are old enough to leave the nest and start out on their own life for uni/work. The idea behind this project is to think of someone’s eyes as a camera, capturing moments in your life and displaying them as a book. The question of my project is: “What do we see throughout life?”

What Research can I do?

I plan to research multiple things to cover this project. One of the things I will need to do is research and plan the stages of life the individual from baby to adult. What things they might see, interact with, behave with and react too. I can do this by doing some online research for secondary sources as well as doing questionnaires, interviews and/or surveys to find out what people can think of that sticks out when they interacted with things at a certain age.

Once that is planned out, I will need to research the stages of eye development for the infant stages as a child’s eye sight isn’t clear / wide until a later age. Once I learn and find out all the information I need for this topic, I can research as well as practice methods on how to give off this effect with my camera. I can obtain this information by using both secondary research, primary and qualitative. If this however doesn’t happen due to it being a vast subject or not getting enough information to be comfortable to practice it in, I shall style all the images still through the point of view as planned but in the style of an online scrap book instead.

Finally, I will create a storyboard for m photography timeline. It will be around 5- images per year of age. I will design this in the usual style of a storyboard if this was a video, however keep the images basic due to there being so many because of the ages going between 0-18. Once this storyboard is done, I will be able to use it as a checklist for what photographs I will be taking.

With this information and research, I should be able to produce a final project without many flaws. It covers the topics I need to learn and understand as well as plans out my project smoothly so I can follow a complete timeline of what to do and how to do it. Once the research is complete I will create the storyboard, then proceed to complete the project by following it to the best of my ability.

Questions for Interview: These are the questions I shall be asking a group of people the following questions, aiming for simple answers. The reason for this is because I want the simplistic images of the words the say. If something needs describing or they want to explain in more detail, I will ask for them to do as so if they can.

1/ What is the first thing you remember seeing?

2/ What is your earliest memory?

3/ What memory comes to mind when you think of your childhood?

4/ What memory comes to mind when you think of your teen-hood?

5/ Is there a memory which comes to mind that makes you feel happy?

6/ Is there a memory which comes to mind that makes you feel unhappy?

7/ Are there any mental images from any years of your life that stick out?

Evaluation: Through these results, I can see that there is a vast amount of memories that people can have but can connect together in away. Some feedback I got about these questions was that they were rather difficult to answer and I got a response that looking back at some of their memories was almost painful and upsetting.

The results on the question about “are there any upsetting memories that come to mind” had some similar results such as loosing someone or failing at something. Another answer that had similar answers was the question of “What is the first thing you remember ever seeing?” which lead to answers mostly consisting of them seeing their mother and/or father.

From this information I have gathered, I have gained more of an idea of what I can capture throughout the photography progress and using some of these ideas to show through my project that life has many ups and downs like a roller coaster.

Project Layout Designs:

I am gonna have my project in the style of a scrap book. When asking around my class for some unique and personal design ideas, a couple of classmates offered to show me what their scrapbook designs looked like to give me a vast idea of what II should do with mine. Each page or two will be related to the age of the child, depending on what part of the book we are at. As the point of view individual is getting old, so do the pages with the surrounding pictures and related background growing up with them. This is one of the styles that I could do for my project, thanks to Zoe Midwinter, a scattered image style with interactive background text and images related to the images. I like how every page is different in its own way and how the images sizes and positions are all different on each page.

The next design I looked at was from another classmate, Meghan Truscott. Her scrapbook has a more simplistic and neat style to it unlike Zoe’s scrapbook. It has room for more images on it as well as some related captions that are next to some of the photos. Another thing I like about Meghan’s design is that it has a lot of subheadings such as “Sisters” and “Best Friends” so you know what you are gonna see on each page. It also has room for some little designs of art around some of the pages such as flowery banners and some little faces. This scrapbook is designed to look cute but maintain a consistent nostalgia feel to it as you read on. The style is simplistic and effective with pages easy to locate when you are looking for something specific. I would take the subheading idea from this design to help tell with my book what stage of growth we are in when you open the book on a random page.

After looking at both designs of these scrap books, I can see the pros and cons of each as well as see how both are effective and stylish to show off their images and tell a story. However, the style I would like to use for my project would be similar to the first scrap book design. I like how this one makes the pages look unique on every page with lots of information and creativity behind it all. I feel that I can make some pretty creative pages and evolve the book in general as the book moves forward to grow up with the child who is portrayed. A weakness of this design however could be that there can be too much on one page that will loose focus of the actual story being told, so finding the balance will need to be one of the top priorities.

Overall, my findings though not as vast as previous projects, have been effective. Through a simple survey, I found out a lot about many peoples past memories and favourite moments in their life which I will use towards my storyboard and book. I learnt that even though there are lots of happy memories that people cherish and protect, that there are also a lot of sad and dark memories that haunt the paint and cannot be forgotten, yet help us move forward and make the future us stronger because of them. So my images wont be just a “fairy tale” like story where there is only positivity and happiness, because that isn’t how life is sadly. It will show the struggles, challenges and tough times of a typical human being to help create a more believable and relatable person within the book.

With this topic that I have chosen, my research was limited, however it will continue to conduct research as the project goes on. I did surveys and interviews with other people to get into their mind and get some personal and unique information as well as read some personal stories of my own to get an idea of the timeline I will have to complete. I did look into the biology of the human eye’s development at a young age, but due to lack of source material that wasn’t online, as well as the interview with a local opticians having to be cancelled due to time constraints, I decided to not put any more pressure on the topic and move forward, using my contingency plan of laying it out as a scrap book instead. I would of liked to of continued to try and follow with the idea of the whole human eye development idea due to the chance to show off some unique camera skills and show real growth and progression in not just image form but also in senses. I feel it was the right call to do however as I don.t want to rush this project, nor make any mistakes because I set the bar too high. Through this research process, I have been able to conduct a large amount of primary and qualitative research with some secondary research too.

The next tasks for me now is to create a storyboard for all the years from the start of life to the age of independence (18). Once these storyboards are done, I can use them as a check list to take the photos of what I need to cover a page of each year, then design the background covers in relation to the age that they are.